Going Back To School - Are The Chances Of Becoming A Quant Unlikely At 40

[Jay Stamford]

I will be starting a Bsc in Mathematics and Computer Science in September 2013 at a top 10 UK university.

I then plan to do an Msc in Advanced Computer Science and a Phd in Applied Mathematics.

I am planning this route of study because I am both interested in the subjects and fortunate enough to be financially independent and not solely for the purpose of becoming a Quant. However I find Quantitative Finance a fascinating and lucrative mix of Mathematics and Computer Science and I would love to work in a such a position.

The commencement of my study will be around 40. Will being this age rule me out of Quantitive job roles in the UK?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It's another 10 years in the future and I'm afraid we will have a lot to worry about the world then, let alone if a certain age is too old for a specific career.
I would suggest that you finish the Bsc first and look at the world and make a decision then.

 

[PTN]

I will be starting a Bsc in Mathematics and Computer Science in September 2013 at a top 10 UK university.

I then plan to do an Msc in Advanced Computer Science and a Phd in Applied Mathematics.

I am planning this route of study because I am both interested in the subjects and fortunate enough to be financially independent and not solely for the purpose of becoming a Quant. However I find Quantitative Finance a fascinating and lucrative mix of Mathematics and Computer Science and I would love to work in a such a position.

The commencement of my study will be around 40. Will being this age rule me out of Quantitive job roles in the UK?

There are plenty of academic/industrial quant researchers out there recruiting phd majoring in applied maths.
Keep it up!

 

[Daniel Duffy]

I will be starting a Bsc in Mathematics and Computer Science in September 2013 at a top 10 UK university.

I then plan to do an Msc in Advanced Computer Science and a Phd in Applied Mathematics.

I am planning this route of study because I am both interested in the subjects and fortunate enough to be financially independent and not solely for the purpose of becoming a Quant. However I find Quantitative Finance a fascinating and lucrative mix of Mathematics and Computer Science and I would love to work in a such a position.

The commencement of my study will be around 40. Will being this age rule me out of Quantitive job roles in the UK?

40 + 4 + 2 + 3 == 49
You will be 49 when you finish?? The perennial student?

If you are financially independent as you say why do you want to work for someone?

 

[Jay Stamford]

40 + 4 + 2 + 3 == 49
You will be 49 when you finish?? The perennial student?

If you are financially independent as you say why do you want to work for someone?

Commencement as in graduation or conferring. So I will be around 40 at the time.
Being financially independent is great, but one still needs something to strive for.

Hence the Phd, which I will do for my own personal achievement, I have nothing to prove and I am certainly not doing it in the hope of becoming a Quant.

I was just questioning the possibility of such a position upon graduation, because it seems to belong to a small set of occupations that would make use of the Mathematical and Computational skills that one would have acquired.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

Doing a degree in Maths sounds great.

 

[bigbadwolf]

40 + 4 + 2 + 3 == 49
You will be 49 when you finish?? The perennial student?

40 + 3 (unless his uni is Scottish) + 1 + 3 = 47. But of course many doctoral students are taking more than three years (four years, five years).

 

[Daniel Duffy]

40 + 3 (unless his uni is Scottish) + 1 + 3 = 47. But of course many doctoral students are taking more than three years (four years, five years).

Scotland is 4 years? The maths degree at TCCD, Dublin is also 4 years.

An option for OP might be 4(or 3) years BA and then jump into research degree, kind of skipping MSc. IMO it is the same as BA++ (assuming is is not research based but just learning more stuff).

 

[bigbadwolf]

An option for OP might be 4(or 3) years BA and then jump into research degree, kind of skipping MSc. IMO it is the same as BA++ (assuming is is not research based but just learning more stuff).

This can be done but at least one of two conditions must hold:

1) The student is among the strongest and most gifted, who started taking graduate courses as an undergraduate

and/or

2) The field of research is narrowly specialised (e.g., "ghostlike representations of pseudo- nearfields").

If it's a mainstream area of math, it will probably need at least a couple of years of strong graduate courses and seminars to get up to speed.

But I think most British master's programs are the way you describe them -- BA++ -- rather than taking students to research frontiers in mainstream math.

 

[Daniel Duffy]

But I think most British master's programs are the way you describe them -- BA++ -- rather than taking students to research frontiers in mainstream math.

This can be beneficial because you learn a lot that can be useful in industry later. My MSc was based on 1 paper my supervisor threw at me saying "Generalise it"